The Count of Monte Cristo

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a return which was unprecedented in the past, and will probably remain
without a counterpart in the future.

Louis XVIII. made but a faint attempt to parry this unexpected blow;
the monarchy he had scarcely reconstructed tottered on its precarious
foundation, and at a sign from the emperor the incongruous structure
of ancient prejudices and new ideas fell to the ground. Villefort,
therefore, gained nothing save the king's gratitude (which was rather
likely to injure him at the present time) and the cross of the Legion of
Honor, which he had the prudence not to wear, although M. de Blacas had
duly forwarded the brevet.

Napoleon would, doubtless, have deprived Villefort of his office had
it not been for Noirtier, who was all powerful at court, and thus the
Girondin of '93 and the Senator of 1806 protected him who so lately
had been his protector. All Villefort's influence barely enabled him to
stifle the secret Dantes had so nearly divulged. The king's procureur